Packaging

The box is rather large and on its top two cloth straps, playing the role of a handle, will help you move it around. On the front the series name along with the model description are highlighted in large fonts. In the bottom left corner there are two badges, one for the five year warranty and one for the NVIDIA SLI certification, while in the opposite corner there is the badge for 80 Plus Gold certification. On the two sides we find a text description and icon describing the unit's features. The most noteworthy features are the Japan made caps, the double-ball bearing fan, the single +12V rail and the modular design. Finally on the rear side the technical specifications are listed, along with the power specifications table and also a description of all available connectors.

Contents

The packaging opens from the top. The first thing that greeted us was a thin piece of packing foam. Underneath it we found the PSU, stored in a nylon bag and the iPower Meter. On the bottom of the packaging lies the rest of the bundle: a user's manual, an AC power cord (UK type), some Velcro cable straps, a set of fixing bolts and a pouch containing all modular cables.

Exterior

The PSU features a dark grey, matte, finish which promises resistance against scratches and fingerprints. On the front, a classic honeycomb design is utilized and next to the AC receptacle a highly useful On/Off switch is installed. The decals on the side do not only look cool, but are high quality since they are incorporated in metal plates and not glued directly on the PSU's enclosure. This is a clear sign of the unit's high building quality. On the rear side unfortunately the native cables are far too many, for our taste, but thankfully are fully and nicely sleeved back into the case and around the cable exit hole a grommet offers additional protection. The modular sockets are not so many, since most of the cables are fixed, and the yellow sockets are for the PCIe cables while the rest are for the SATA/Peripheral cables. The fan grill utilizes honeycomb style vents and in its center we find Thortech's logo. The fan has many blades (eleven) something that usually has a negative impact on output noise. The large power specifications label is located on the bottom side and as you see, from the last of the photos above, the casing and the fan are secured with torx and hex screws respectively.

Now let's take a better look at the iPower Meter device.


This device is similar to the one of the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 800W unit we have reviewed in the past. It mounts in a 5.25" bay and provides useful information like efficiency, DC Power consumption, voltages and current drawn from the main rails, the internal temperature and fan RPM. Through iPower Meter you can also set the PSU's fan to two modes, Quiet and Full. In the first the fan's speed is auto controlled depending on the internal temperature of the PSU while in Full mode the fan works constantly at 100%. We don't recommend setting the fan to Full mode since it's quite noisy when it works at full speed.

We would like this device to have the ability to be placed on the desk and not solely in a 5.25" slot. Most of the users put their cases on the floor so it is not so convenient to check the iPower Meter's readings. Also since Thortech invested time and money on this device, why not provide an interface and the appropriate software to make its readings accessible through the operating system. It would be really cool for most users out there, to have the ability to check efficiency, voltages etc. on the fly from the desktop. An additional and highly interesting feature would also be the implementation of a logging function so the user could actually check how much power his system draws over a defined period of time and so on.